Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Daring Bakers: Tiramisu

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

Tiramisu used to be one of my all-time favorite desserts. What’s not to love about it? A fluffy, creamy filling with espresso soaked ladyfingers/cake and a hint of just a little bit of rum or marsala. Yes, please! Unfortunately, this is normally a rare treat in the vegan world. I made tiramisu once at school, but of course, it wasn't vegan. This is something I’ve been wanting to tackle for a while now.

Since tiramisu is a rare thing for me, I decided to make two flavors: traditional and chocolate caramel. I used the Tira Mi Su recipe from Urban Vegan and used marsala wine instead of brandy. I’ve heard nothing but great things about this book and after making this kick ass recipe, I will definitely be buying this book! This recipe is pretty simple, easy to follow and down right delicious! This will be a special occasion recipe for me because the ingredients are a bit expensive, but definitely worth it!

And now for brown pic mania. Sorry about the bad lightning!

Traditional Tiramisu

Bake sponge cake and cool on cooling rack. I forgot to take pics of the cake process! Whoopsie!

Cut the sponge cake into circles using a cookie cutter or cup. Slice the cakes in half length wise.

Whip Soyatoo! and set aside. This stuff is amazing! I cannot believe how similar it is to whipped cream!

Gently fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Remove half of the whipped mixture and set aside for the chocolate caramel tiramisu.

Pour espresso in a bowl and quickly soak cakes.

Transfer cakes to ramekins or cups and spread the yummy whipped filling on top. Set aside to decorate.

Chocolate Caramel Tiramisu

I used this vegan caramel recipe from A Vegan Ice Cream Paradise blog. While I do prefer a more traditional caramel recipe without using brown sugar, this recipe was super fast and simple to make.

Melt Earth Balance in a saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar and stir until combined.

Add creamer and stir. I used coconut creamer and it worked great!

Bring liquid to a boil and boil for 4 minutes, stirring frequently.

Remove from heat. Add a slurry of arrowroot and creamer. Stir constantly until well combined and set aside until cooled to room temp.

Sift one tablespoon of cocoa powder to the saved whipped filling. Silly me, I forgot to sift! Add two tablespoons of caramel sauce. Gently fold until combined.

Add espresso soaked sponge cake and caramel to a ramekin. Smooth chocolate whipped filling on top and set aside.

Smooth tiramisu tops with a cake spatula.

I bought these handy little cake stencils at Ikea. Place the stencil on top of the tiramisu and sift cocoa powder until covered. Slowly remove the stencil. The tiramisu sticks a little bit to the stencil, but it still looks pretty cool.

For a cool little trick on your plate, place a spoon on a white plate. Arrange paper towels or parchment paper next to the spoon. Sift cocoa powder on top to cover the spoon and the exposed part of the plate.

The end result is decadent and freakin’ delicious! This recipe will definitely fool any omni and is just incredible! Dinoff is not a coffee drinker, and even he loved it!